Two-fifths of young parents struggle to get by, says Action for Children

Many young parents are struggling financially, campaigners have warned.

Around two in five of those who had their first child by the time they were 25 are just managing to get by, according to a new report by Action for Children.

It calculates that over 12 months, a young parent will earn around £1,300 less than young people who do not have children.

The findings are based on a new analysis of data on people born in 1989 and 1990.

Overall, around one in 10 young parents (11%) have attended university, the study says, compared with 45% of their peers without sons and daughters.

A third (33%) of young mums and dads are in "skilled" jobs, compared with 51% of those who are not parents, and nearly one in five (19%) say they rarely or never see friends, compared with 11% of those that do not have children.

Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive of Action for Children, said: "There is very little up-to-date research that looks at the lives of teenage parents across the UK and even less so on the 'forgotten ages' between 20-25 years old.

"With the growing expectation that parenthood comes later in life, young parents can come up against both negative attitudes and government policy that does not meet their needs.

"Our report focuses on the estimated 177,000 young parents across England who are not getting the necessary help to support themselves or their children."

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